Dispatch from Afar

Hidden beneath all the hype exists a great Democratic divide

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Despite presenting a unified front at their convention in Boston last month, many politicians, delegates and progressive voters swearing allegiance to the Democratic Party to rid America of George W. Bush find themselves torn between the party line and their true beliefs on volatile issues like the war in Iraq […]

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Greetings from the south of France

By Jo Anne Wilson Sun international correspondent SAIGNON (Provence), France — I can scarcely believe that I’ve been here for two weeks. My travels from Traverse City to this remote hamlet in southern France went without a problem. The trip is not difficult, just long. A jet to Paris via Detroit and the high speed […]

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Springtime in Provence: A Sequel to Carpe Diem

By Jo Anne Wilson Sun correspondent SAIGNON, France (March 18, 2004) — It’s the middle of March and I’m in Southern France. I needed a break after a bitter Northern Michigan winter. Here, the climate is mild and the sun shines three hundred and twenty days a year. Serious snowfall happens a couple of times […]

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Carpe Diem: Local woman leaves winter behind for greener pastures

By Jo Anne Wilson Sun contributor “I’m moving to Provence,” I announced. “Provence?” My neighbor stared at me. “As in Southern France?” I could see her mind going. Me, the retired teacher of French had finally gone over the edge. “Not forever,” I hastened to add, “Just for a year or two.” “But you just […]

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Baseball curses, howler monkeys and evening the score with Mayan gods

By Jacob Wheeler Sun International Correspondent UTILA (Islas de la Bahia), Honduras – How he found me down here I have no idea. But I have no doubt it was he who renewed the hex. The two Chicagoans and I were as far from Wrigleyville as possible (a sleazy sports bar in the Guatemalan highlands, […]

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On the Road: Tackling language numero cuatro

By Jacob Wheeler Sun international correspondent XELA, Guatemala — Doris, my new host mother, calls me down to breakfast in her tiny, open-air courtyard that is surrounded by bland, concrete walls but beckons just enough mountain-high sunshine to make me smile. The meal is yet another plate of plain eggs and soupy beans to go […]

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On the Road: Mesas and natural aquifers give way to spring training in suburbia

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor Part two in a series of four travelogues (Read part one, “Leaving the Midwest’s gloomy grey for Southwestern red dirt” in June 19 issue of the Glen Arbor Sun) “Though much is taken, much abides; and though / We are not now that strength which in old days / […]

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On the Road: Leaving the Midwest’s gloomy grey for Southwestern red dirt

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor The American boy’s passport is his driver’s license, and a fortuneteller’s reading of his future spells itself out on a Rand McNally road atlas of the United States. Tiny county roads flow into highways like tributaries driven by fate towards the roaring river, and, in turn, the highways are […]

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The kings in the palace

By Tim Sutherland Sun feature writer Imagine Billy Joel and Elton John together in concert, with over 100 million records sold between them – number 1 hits too numerous to mention and two of the greatest piano players of our time. Legends, icons, megastars, and there they were on stage together at The Palace of […]

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Travels with Women Friends

By M. Leth-Soerensen Sun staff writer In the midst of our busy lives — buzzing traffic, too many visitors and our children’s, partners’ or employers’ needs — we seek the company of other women and escape to a quiet place for the purpose of respite. We wish to have fun, talk well, and long for […]

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